LASU fee hike against the poor — ASUU

The National Treasurer, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Ademola Aremu, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that the Lagos State Government has taken university education beyond the reach of the poor with the hike in the Lagos State University tuition fee

What is the position of ASUU on the new tuition in LASU?

In Nigeria, the minimum wage is N18, 000 which is slightly above N200, 000 per annum. Can such people (workers) send their children to a school where the fee is as high as it is at the Lagos State University? Is it not a big shock that LASU could jerk up tuition from around N25, 000 to between N195,000 and N350,000? What the Lagos State Government is telling us is that university education is an exclusive preserve of the rich. Class is gradually being introduced to education in Lagos. If Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State had to pay the type of fee he is introducing in LASU when he was at the University of Benin, would he have been able to have university education? Most of our leaders today enjoyed free education but right now, there is a conspiracy in the political space to perpetrate hegemony. With what we are witnessing, a time will come when only the children of these politicians will be qualified to occupy positions in Nigeria because they will be the only ones with the educational qualification. When you go to Kwara State and some other places in Nigeria, you would realise that ruling is reserved for a few families. They prepared the political space for their wards a long time ago and that is what Lagos is trying to do. ASUU will not allow this to happen.

Does ASUU have the mandate to fight for the rights of students in Nigerian universities?

The knowledge that is produced by universities is meant to be acquired by the students. So, the first priority of the universities is the students, then the academic staff that impact knowledge. ASUU has been at the forefront of the struggle for proper funding of universities. The only reason for this struggle is the student population because they are the direct beneficiaries of what we fight for. Education is something that should be made affordable, available and accessible to the people. Over 70 per cent of Nigerians are living on less than $2 per day, meaning that they live in poverty. Yet, we expect these people to send their children to school and pay school fees to the university level.

I do not agree with the policy that government cannot fund education without the students paying tuition fee. Let the Nigerian government stop 50 per cent of corruption that goes on in the system and I assure you that we can afford to have full free education at all levels in Nigeria because we are going to have a lot of money to finance several sectors. Therefore, ASUU will not fold its arms and allow its students to suffer as a result of government policy on education.

Do you see any competition between the fees of private and public universities?

Don’t forget that the orientation of a private sector is to make profit, which is the opposite of what public institutions stand for. The money used to fund public universities is from a public purse, so nobody should be denied of access to education because of tuition fee. Rich people can send their children to private universities. After all, some send them abroad to school. ASUU is concerned with what happens in our public universities.

Did you hold meetings with the school management and the Lagos State Government before the new fee was introduced?

We tried to intervene by meeting the Visitor to the school, who is the governor. We also made attempts to meet with the school management on the issue, pointing out that the fee would create a big barrier between the rich and the poor. Through the Joint Action Forum, we kicked against it with press releases and other measures but they did not listen to us.

Did the governor meet with ASUU?

We actually sent representaties to him and we are now trying to meet him again. We met the vice-chancellor of the university, who said he was not the ‘maker of the fees.’ He said only the government, who owns the university, could reverse the fee.

How far is ASUU ready to go on this issue?

If you look at the reality of Lagos finances, you will realise that there is no point in charging fees in the school. That is where we will stand. The policy is affecting the population of the school because students, who cannot pay, the new fee, have stayed away. Candidates don’t even choose the school again. That is why a department that had 300 students now has less than 50 students. Because the students are no longer many, there is a plan to reduce staff strength. How can 30 lecturers work in a department that has 50 students? If Fashola is responsive and sensitive to the issue on ground, he will not be stubborn about it. What is the essence of having a university that cannot have students to its full capacity? Education is not a matter of being available alone, it must be accessible. But unfortunately, Lagos State is taking it away from its people.

What were reasons given for the hike in tuition fee?

When government is ready to do things like this, it hardly gives any good reason. I think the state government is saying the money it spends on LASU is too much, so the school must generate money for its running. What the government has forgotten is that LASU is not a business centre. It is a centre of knowledge. Education should be a social service to the people. Huge injustice and damage is done when you introduce such fee that LASU is charging because a lot of youths with potential are denied the opportunity to develop. Whatever government does to the people is not a favour but an obligation it owes the people, after all, none of the officials spends personal money to run the government. Why will Lagos not use the state money to train children of Lagosians? ASUU will not watch while a governor perpetrates impunity.

Is LASU the only university charging such fee?

LASU is the only public university that charges such fee in Nigeria. The fee is even higher than what is charged by some private universities in Nigeria. If you observe very well, only the children of the rich attend those private universities. Yet, Lagos is closing the door against the children of the poor by hiking tuition fee of the public institution. Where else will the poor go? Lagos claims it is taking miscreants off the streets but they are now sending more to the streets by denying youths the opportunity to have university education.

Have you met the students and what efforts have they made to resolve the issue?

The students’ union leaders have met ASUU, even last week. The state gives a bursary of N60,000 and is now charging up to N350,000 as fee. What percentage of the fee will the bursary cover? This is a country where billions of naira is budgeted for feeding dogs.

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Dr aremu you are demn right the governor his not in his senses cos if he does he will know that in 2years tym lasu wud b nothing gud 2 talk abt, the population keeps decreasing every year. This is were corruption starts from we pay for services wich dey dont render

adefowora

Tinubu, Fashola, APC listen to the voice of reason, That fee regime iS outrageous, discriminatory, repressive, retrogressive and scandalous !
Lagos State University is our heritage, therefore govt should not under whatever guise exclude a certain class of Lagosian from enjoying benefits from the common patrimony!

covenant

I think to some extent Gov. Fashola is trying to assume a statue of an all knowing & appears over aggressive & exuberance in his quest to build Lagos to a megacity. Truth is a town cannot grow bigger than the people in it & if it tries it will surely be destroyed by people in it. Fashola wants to build Lagos to a megacity while the people who occupy it are meagre people. You see it is said God made man’s brain wonderful man made his town beautiful. While should he in one way be preaching an ideal society where corruption does not thrive while in his actions he’s engaging corruption. How many parents in Lagos can afford to pay such exorbitant tuition fees for children? Anti-people policies seem to very much with APC and we all need to rethink about them come 2015. Sincerely, I love the party before as much as possible but not with their draconian policies most especially the shams going on in Osun state in the name of reclassification of schools. APC needs to rethink because despite all their noises & gimmikries the future looks bleak.

Adebolu Adegbite

I and Tunde fashola paid 33 Naira per session at Uniben!.Food at our world standard cafeteria was fifty kobo per tray!

http://www.cresle.com Naija Yarn

A Yoruba adage says “A ti ti oje bo olosa lowo, o ku baba eni ti a bo o” Now that Tinube and his cohorts have a good grip on Lagos, they can do whatever they can do and there is nothing anybody can do about it. They started with bridges, went to okada, to land use, now the Universities. We have kept quiet for long enough. What can we say that they are bringing next. Yet this is a place you pay for everything

Magic

If the LASG cannot fund the university,the school should be privatised or Fashola tender his resignation as simple as abc

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